Mark Derks brings two decades of strategy and branding experience from global logistics giant C.H. Robinson to his new role as partner and chief marketing officer at Words At Work, a small Minneapolis-based marketing communications firm.
Derks is focusing on delivering strategy, branding, content and digital marketing offerings to clients while also working to raise the profile of Words At Work, an 18-person firm founded in 1988. It has offices in the Minneapolis Warehouse District and in Atlanta.
"Always our customers will come first in the work that we do for them," Derks said. "But we'll do a little more promotion and brand building around the Words At Work brand for both new customers as well as new talent."
Words At Work has clients in health care, technology and business-to-business brands, and a number of accounts have engaged the firm for more than 20 years. Clients include Ricoh, Entrust Datacard and Code42.In addition to Derks, Alison Buckneberg and Matt Burrow also recently joined Words At Work as account director and senior graphic designer.
Derks most recently was director of global marketing for North America, South America, Europe and Asia for C.H. Robinson, a Fortune 500 transportation and third-party logistics firm based in Eden Prairie, leading global strategy, operations and marketing technology and customer experience as part of the executive leadership team. He serves on the board of the BrandLab, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that helps prepare students from diverse backgrounds for careers in marketing and advertising. "Their mission to increase diversity within marketing and advertising is paramount," he said.
Q: What interested you in joining a smaller company?
A: I've only worked at roughly two (organizations). But they've been growth-oriented companies. They've been entrepreneurial companies that offer a lot of empowerment and autonomy. This is an opportunity to bring my experience and my desire and drive for entrepreneurial ways into a smaller organization and give back.
Q: What does your hiring mean for Words At Work?
A: They want to continue to delight and extend the relationships they have with their current customer base. But they're also very interested in growth in the right way, and that's an opportunity for us to introduce new relationships and new prospects to the agency as well as new talent.
